ZECO TRAVEL TALK

This island was once occupied by Japanese forces during World War II. The staff landed early, enjoying a golden sunrise on a beautiful black sand beach, in order to perform reconnaissance for the morning walks. The tundra on the surrounding hillsides still showed scars, however, of slow healing bomb craters created by U.S. ordinance in 1943 to drive off the Japanese invasion.

War relics were scattered everywhere: blasted underground bunkers, overgrown concrete foundations, mounts with rusting anti-aircraft guns, and unrecognizable bits of metal hidden in the high grass. Wildflowers were resplendent, and included monkey flower, wild iris, two varieties of bog orchid, and coastal paintbrush, and their brilliant color stood in stark contrast to the ravages of a past war. Of particular interest to me (the staff geologist) were the sea cliffs comprised of cross-bedded volcaniclastic deposits, likely left by pyroclastic flows from past volcanic eruptions.

As passengers were ferried back to the ship they cruised past a sunken Japanese supply ship in the harbor, and stopped briefly at an electrically powered mini-sub, destroyed while it sat in dry dock. Later in the afternoon we visited Sirius Point on the north side of the island, chasing enormous flocks of thousands of least auklets during a Zodiac cruise. The spectacular columnar jointed basalt was created there in 1962, during the most recent eruption on this remote Aleutian island.

Our visit to Attu Island, the last of the Aleutians that we will visit on our voyage of discovery through Alaskan water was spectacular and wonderfully varied. Over the course of the day we had a sample of at least three different weather patterns. We were greeted by low overcast, foggy conditions, and then expanded the island’s weather repertoire with sun breaking through briefly, before reverting to heavy fog and rain. Most of us walked up through Massacre Valley, the sight of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II as American and Canadian forces made an amphibious landing on this remote isle in 1943. The whole geography of the conflict was spread out before us as we took one of the walks that our expedition leader, Mike Messick, laid out for us today.

We arrived at a time in which the Coast Guard is pulling out of this island after decades of occupation.

For birders Attu Island is place for extraordinary watching as it is situated on the East Asia flight path of migrating birds. One never knows what will show up and that “hope springs eternal” attitude that characterizes birder in general was well rewarded today. The birders saw a number of very exciting birds including long-toed stint and terek sandpiper.

Throughout the day we were very much aware of being in special and remote place, one in which the conflicts of yesterday has been replaced by wild flowers and quiet rolling fog-enshrouded hill, green and inviting.

The roars of the male fur seals would occasionally cease just long enough that we could hear the squeals of the tiny month-old pups. Scattered across the black lava rocks, many of these young seal pups were eagerly awaiting the return of their mothers, who were currently currently off on feeding trips. While the pups waited, the enormous adult males (which are 35% longer and more than 4.5 times heavier than the females) each defended their beachfront territory from other males, in the hope that only they would have access to the females on their turf. This morning, we had arrived at one of the world’s great wildlife spectacles: a northern fur seal rookery in the Bering Sea’s remote Pribilof Islands.

Equally impressive was a visit to a tundra-covered bluff overlooking a steep cliff that was dotted with nesting seabirds of several different species. Puffins, murres, and three species of auklets found this vertical environment a safe haven for raising their young, no easy task on an island with an extremely healthy Arctic fox population. We looked down upon black-legged kittiwakes, gliding gracefully along the cliff face while coming and going from their nests. But the highlight of it all had to be spotting the coral-red legs of the red-legged kittiwake, perched on a ledge high over the sea. This species breeds only on four island groups, all of which are located in the Bering Sea.

This morning expedition leader Mike Messick assembled us for a Zodiac cruise around the Baby Islands where we had great views of the common eiders (with chicks), tufted puffins, pigeon guillemots, and a peregrine falcon. The stars of the day were the whiskered auklets, as the Baby Islands offer one of the best places in the world to see these birds. Along with a few marine animals (stellar sea lions, harbor seals), we had the wonderful opportunity to observe them as they interacted with their environment.

Returning to the ship, we enjoyed lunch as we sailed on to Dutch Harbor, the busiest fishing port in the United States. Upon our arrival, we visited the Aleut Museum and the memorial park celebrating military efforts in the Aleutians. We were given a very moving introduction to the Russian Orthodox Church where the guide explained to us not only some details of the work of the church in the region, but also about the building itself which is listed on the National Register of Historical Sites. The World War II Museum was a high point for many. Here we viewed a first-class series of exhibits detailing the military activity in the Aleutians during that conflict, but also giving appropriate attention to the support services including the nurses who served in this dangerous theater of the war and of the removal of the Aleuts from their island homes for the duration of the war and their return after it was over.

We came to Geographic Harbor in Katmai National Park hoping to see some bears. It’s always a bit nerve-wracking for staff members; expectations are high, cameras are primed, and the bears are beyond our control. There were a few things in our favor: we had a falling minus tide, which is ideal; the low tide was in the morning, when bears are most active; and the salmon runs are late this year, making the bears more dependent on the clams they can dig from the beach at low tide. Still, there was some staff nail-biting going on.

We needn’t have worried. The morning was a bear extravaganza. None of the boats that stayed out for the full 3-hour cruise saw less than 20 bears. All of us saw cubs, big males, behaviors, interactions, and a whole lot of clam-digging—a feeding method unique to grizzly bears in this part of the world. And all of it happened right in front of us, within a few feet of the zodiacs. Katmai is like a magical place where all the usual violent and fearful rules of bear-human interactions have been repealed. Geographic Harbor had delivered for us again.

Written by Zegrahm field leader, Bob Quaccia

We had a rainy, but eventful day, driving from Anchorage to meet the Clipper Odyssey in Seward. We awoke the next day to a drier, calmer scene. Three fin whales joined us for breakfast, as did a Dall’s porpoise on our way across Marmot Bay. We loaded into Zodiacs to explore the Triplet Islands near Kodiak. Thousands of tufted puffins and a few horned puffins were busy filling their beaks with small fish for their nestlings. A sea otter mom carried her pup on her belly. Harbor seals and a lone Steller sea lion surfaced nearby us as we poked around the kelp beds.

In the afternoon we learned about the native peoples of the region at the Alutiiq Museum. We then visited the oldest building in Alaska where the Kodiak Baranof Museum is housed. Here we learned of the Russian of exploration in the late 1700s when Kodiak became the first capital of Russian America. Finally, a stunning World War II exhibit in a refurbished bunker overlooking the dramatic Spruce cape topped off our day of exploration.

Often referred to as the Enchanted Islands, the Galápagos Islands, some 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador evokes thoughts of marine iguanas and giant tortoises; blue-footed boobies and frigatebirds; and Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution and natural selection.

Our trip began in the mainland Ecuadorian city of Quito situated high in the Andes with its wonderful churches and squares and where we were even able to experience the pomp and circumstance of the changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace.

Soon and with great anticipation, we were boarding our flight for the Galápagos. Even before embarking our home for the next week, the comfortable Isabela II in Baltra, marine iguanas and frigatebirds were greeting us at the pier. Read more

As many of us were finishing our hearty breakfast, the Clipper Odyssey made the turn into Dutch Harbor, once an obscure part of the Aleutians but now known to millions who tune into the television program, Deadliest Catch. Here, for once, television does not completely invent reality for Dutch Harbor had been for many years the most important port for the fishing industry in the United States. Three major processing plants dot the town and empty crabbing and fishing paraphernalia fill otherwise empty lots. Read more